Lining slabs for hot tops,ingot moulds and the like for metal casting



HOT

' Abr'il'14,1970' L J. L.BYFIRAWNE ETQAL 3,506,236

FQR TOP LINING SLABS 5, IN MOULDS AND THE LIKE TING FOR METAL Filed Jan. 1967 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Lining slabs for hot tops on ingot moulds generally require fixing rods, braces and the like to secure them in place. A simple rod which is aflixed to the slab during manufacture provides a simple and effective anchoring means for the slab. The rod may be so shaped that no substantial protrusions are present while the slab is transported Or stored. Eflicient transport, storage and use of such slabs is thus attained.

This invention relates to the lining of the head of ingot moulds and to the lining of hot-tops for use with moulds.

It is important in the casting of molten metal to provide that, after charging the mould with molten metal, the solidification of the head metal is delayed. By this means it is ensured that molten metal continues to remain available to feed the body of cast metal and compensate for its natural shrinkage on cooling and solidification. If the feed is inadequate there is a tendency to the formation of fissures and cracks in the body of cast metal. To achieve the required delay in cooling of the head metal it is known practice to line the head of the mould or to line a hot-top secured to the head of the mould, with a lining which acts as a barrier or hindrance to the loss of heat from the head metal. This lining may be of a heat-insulating material or may be of a material which contains ingredients which react together exothermically, the initiation of the exothermic reaction usually being effected by the heat of the molten metal.

For some shapes of ingot mould or hot top it is practical to make pre-formed linings of such materials but where the head of the ingot mould, or the hot top, is of rectangular cross-section it is generally most convenient to locate a plurality of fiat slabs of the material which abut the walls of the head of the ingot mould, or of the hot top.

In this case, however, the problem arises of holding the slabs in the required position. Various proposals have been made to achieve this end. The most obvious course is to provide, secured to each slab, one or more, hook members which project and can be made to lie over the upper edges of the walls of the ingot mould or hot top, so that the slabs are thus suspended within the cavity of the mould or hot top in close juxtaposition to its walls. However if fixed hooks are thus provided they lie out of the plane of the slabs and so present difficulty in packing the preformed slabs in close juxtaposition for transport purposes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a way of overcoming this difiiculty.

According to the present invention there is provided a slab of heat-insulating material or exothermically reacting material which is formed of a composition which contains a fibrous constituent and, connected thereto, a rod bent in U-shape to provide two substantially parallel arm sections and a connecting section therebetween, a first arm of the rod being located against the face of the slab and passing through staple loops secured to the said United States Patent ice face and permitting rotation of the rod about the axis of that arm so that the second arm of the rod may be rotated from a position in which it is at or near the plane of the face of the slab to a position in which it is at maximum displacement from that plane.

Since the second arm of the rod is substantially parallel to the arm on the face of the slab, the rod may thus be laid flat against the slab when the slab is required to be packed for shipment but moved so that when the slab is required for use, the portion of the rod which links the arms of the U-shape, i.e. the connecting section, serves as a means for suspending the slab by reason of its resting on the upper edge of a wall of the mould or hot top.

For more accurate location of the slab, the second arm of the U-shape (which need not be of the same length as the first arm) may be made to engage a suitable locating aperture provided in the upper edge face of the mould or hot top construction, or alternatively to abut the outer face of the mould or hot top construction.

It is also generally preferred that the extremity of the first arm which lies against the face of the slab should be bent, c.g. at a right angle, to prevent the arm slipping out of the staples.

This bent extremity is advantageously so angled relative to the connecting section that when the connecting section makes only a small angle with the plane of the face of the slab, the bent extremity lies in a plane substantially parallel to that of the face of the slab, but when the connecting section is rotated so that it is substanially perpendicular to the face of the slab, the bent extremity bears against or digs into the face of the slab.

By providing that the material of the slab contains a fibrous constituent the staple loops can be very readily secured to the face of the slab since the ends of the staple are more securely gripped by the material of the slab and may be clinched into position.

A particular embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a slab constructed according to the present invention.

FIGURE 2 shows such a slab in use.

Referring to FIGURE 1 the slab 1 of heat-insulating or exothermic composition containing a fibrous ingredient is provided with two rods. Each of the rods 2 is bent to provide three sections a, b and c and has a bent extremity d. Section a of each rod is held within staples 3 which are clinched into the material of the slab but the rod is a loose fit within the staples so that it can be rotated on the axis of section a. The slab is shown in the position convenient for packing and transport with the section b of the rod lying across the top of the slab, section 0 lying against the other face of the slab and extremity d lying parallel to the face of the slab. It will be appreciated that in this position there are no important projections from the general plane of the slabs so that the slabs may be packed in close juxtaposition.

In FIGURE 2 there is shown a slab 1 of the construction illustrated in FIGURE 1 located in the head of an ingot mould 4 (only part of which is shown). The sections 0 of the rods 2 have, in this case, been rotated on their axes so that the sections b and c extend away from the slab. Section b of each lies over the upper edge surface of the wall of the mould 4 and each section c enters an aperture 5 located in that upper edge surface. The extremities a have dug into the surface of the slab 1 which is thus held tightly and securely against any upward or downward motion.

In order to ensure, in some cases that the slab 1 is held tightly against the mould wall a spring clip 6 may be provided as shown.

We claim as our invention:

1. A lining slab of heat-insulating material or exothermically reacting material which is formed of a composition which contains a fibrous constituent and, connected thereto, a rod bent in 'U-shape to provide two substantially parallel arm sections and a connecting section therebetween, a first arm of the rod being located against the face of the slab and passing through staple loops secured to the said face and permitting rotation of the rod about the axis of that arm so that the second arm of the rod may be rotated from a position in which it is substantially at the plane of the face of the slab to a position in which it is at maximum displacement from that plane, said lining slag being adapted to be suspended from the edge or wall of a mould or hot top by said second arm.

2. A lining slag according to claim 1 wherein the length of said second arm is less than the length of said first arm.

3. A lining slab according to claim 1 wherein the extremity of the first arm is bent at an angle to that arm.

4. A lining slab according to claim 3 wherein the extremity is bent substantially at right angles to the first arm.

5. A slab of heat-insulating material or exothermically reacting material which is formed of a composition which contains a fibrous constituent and, connected thereto, at least one rod bent in a U-shape to provide two substantially parallel arm sections and a connecting section therebetween, a staple loop secured to a face of the slab, a first arm of the rod being located against the face of the slab and passing through said staple loop, said staple loop permitting rotation of the rod about the axis of that arm so that the second arm of the rod may be rotated from a position in which it is substantially at the plane of the slab to a position in which it is at maximum displacement from that plane, the extremity of said first arm being bent at an angle to said first arm, said bent extremity being angled relative to the connecting section so that, when the connecting section makes a small angle with the plane of the face of the slab, the bent extremity 1Q lies in a plane substantially parallel to that of the face of the slab and, when the connecting section is rotated so that it is substantially perpendicular to the face of the slab, the bent extremity bears against the face of the slab.

6. The slab of claim 5 wherein there are two rods.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,144,087 6/1915 Adler 248-38 2,546,270 3/1951 Marburg 249-106 X 3,002,23 8 10/ 1961 Orrison 164-53 X 3,103,045 9/1963 La Bate. 3,144,698 8/1964 Haw 249-202 3,202,395 8/ 1965 Beattie 249-202 J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner I. S. B'ROWN, Assistant Examiner U.S.Cl. X.R. 164-53; 248-359 

